Not So Unreal Nightmares
by the Anastasia Collection
Summary: [ANASTASIA] By Kelly. Dimitri is thinking. Takes place a day or two before Anya leaves the orphanage. ©98. Plz read&review, thx!


**"Not So Unreal Nightmares" **   
by Kelly 

Summary: [ANASTASIA] Dimitri is thinking. Takes place a day or two before Anya leaves the orphanage. ©98. Plz read&review, thx!   
~*~ 

The golden chandeliers... the crystal plates and goblets... the gentle strains of an orchestra's music... and a soft lullaby... 

As Dimitri walked through the deep snow, he pulled his coat closer to him. He wouldn't let himself think of those days. They were in the past now. And that night... that night was too awful to remember, to try to comprehend. 

He finally reached the old St. Petersburg Palace and looked around. No one was near. He quickly ducked through the secret hole in the iron fence that he and Vlad had cut and ran up the steps to the massive palace. Looking around once more, he ducked inside. 

"Vlad? Vlad! I rented the theater!" he yelled. An old face suddenly appeared in one of the balconies above the spirling stairs that adorned the main ballroom of the palace. 

"You did, Dimitri? This is going to be great!" he cried. Dimitri nodded eagerly and raced up the stairs to the balcony. Vlad reached out and hugged him tightly. "I don't know how you do it, but you do, Dimitri, my boy. We're going to be rich! Rich!" Dimitri grinned and started to walk to the room that they had set up in the abondaned palace for a living space. He took off his coat and hat and hung them on a rack. 

"We'll find a girl to play the part... just think, Vlad! We'll be out of here! We'll never have a worry again!" he exclaimed, starting a fire to warm up the cold room. 

"And we'll have those ten million rubles!" Vlad sighed as he sat down in a chair. "Just think of it!" 

That night, Dimitri was laying in the make-shift bed he'd made on the floor. Vlad was snoring from across the room and Dimitri placed the pillow over his head. He couldn't get to sleep, and nothing helped. He turned his thoughts to their plan. If they found a suitable Anastasia imposter, then their lives would be guaranteed to be full of riches and splendor. Yes, this would do quite nicely. 

As he planned how he'd use the money and tried to decide if he should buy an automobile or a boat first, he slowly drifted off to sleep. A dream started to fill his head... he was a young boy again of 10. It was a cold December day, of the year 1916. He had been looking for a way to escape from the Bolsheviks by going from the servants' passages when he had entered the Grand Duchess's room. He had opened the door and saw her, cuddling a beautiful box against her chest. Their eyes had met, his big brown ones with her wide blue ones. 

"Please help me..." she whispered. He heard a pounding at the door and turned to look. The Dowager Empress herself was standing against it, trying to keep out the incoming mob. He looked back at the Princess. As they all exchanged glances, Dimitri realized somewhat ironically that for once in his life there were no classes... they were all fighting for just one cause: to live. To see another day, another sunset. He had a chance to get away... what should he do? He reached out and grabbed her hand. 

"This way... through the servant's quarters," he said, pushing her in. The Empress ran in behind her. Suddenly Anastasia dropped the box and watched it roll down by Dimitri's feet. 

"My music box!" she screamed, trying to dart out to get it. Dimitri heard the main doors give a little, under the weight of the angry mob. There was no time left. 

"Go!" he yelled, pushing her back in. He quickly pushed the door shut and leaned against it. They would be safe. But what about him? The door burst open. Dimitri leaned back against the wall in fear. 

"Where are they, boy?" a tall man asked. 

"Well, they certainly aren't here, are they?" he replied cheerfully. The man grunted and grabbed Dimitri by the shoulders. 

"Where is she?" Dimitri quickly grabbed a vase and threw it at them. The revolutionary looked at him with fury and hit him upside the head with the butt of his gun. Blackness ingulfed him. 

Dimitri woke up with a start, sitting straight up in bed. He gulped in the air around him as if he would never get enough. It had been a nightmare. A nightmare of what really happened. He slowly laid back down, but couldn't go back to sleep. The fear of that night managed to scare him still, even ten years later. What was the problem with him? 

He slowly got up and walked to the small cabinet where he kept his dearest treasure... the music box that the Princess dropped. He looked at the way the moonlight caught the gold and jewels of the box. After all these years he hadn't been able to part with it. It had frustrated him sometimes, not knowing what tune it played. But the key was gone, probably lost somewhere, sometime long ago. For this reason he had never told anyone what it really was... a music box. 

Whenever Vlad asked, it was simply "A jewelry box of some sort." He cradled it against his chest like Anastasia had that fateful night long ago. No wonder she had wanted it so badly. It brought him a sort of peace and he didn't know what it even played! But what became of that girl with long red curls and startling blue eyes? Was she out there, alone and hungry? Or had she really died that night along with the rest of the Romanovs? Sure, the Empress had gotten away. But what about her? 

'It doesn't matter now', he thought firmly, putting the music box back in it's spot. 'Now what matters, is finding a girl to _be_ Anastasia. With a good imposter and this music box, my plan will be unfailable!' 

_(continues as in the movie)_ __

... 

ANASTASiA™ is copyright of 20thC.Fox, etc. ^_^ 

PS. Believe it or not, this is a work of fiction. All the incidents, names, and characters are imaginary.   
Any resemblence to actual persons etc, living or dead, is completely coincidental. ^_~ 

written by Kelly ©98, edited by SimbiAni™ ©2G4 


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